The global deal is valued at between 1-2 billion US dollars, according to industry sources.
In Romania, Nidera is among the five largest traders, with revenue estimated at EUR70 million/year. In the past year, it has started building a silo network in Teleorman, Calarasi and Braila counties.
“The deal was confirmed and the impact over Romanian operations will surely be a positive one in terms of funding,” a top executive in the Romanian agricultural raw material trade industry told ZF.
Neither Nidera’s domestic and international officials, nor those of COFCO made any comment on this issue.
In the wake of this deal, Chinese companies come to own key-operations in Romanian agriculture after Shuanghui group in 2013 took over US giant Smithfield.
The moves are part of a broader acquisition spree by the Chinese on foreign markets as the Asian economy boasts a foreign currency reserve of $3,000 billion, the world’s largest.
Nidera, a 94-year old company, does business in key regions for agricultural raw material flows. In Romania, the Nidera group has been present for 11 years, but it did not invest in infrastructure until last year. The Dutch group started building a silo network in southern Romania.
Nidera’s main business in Romania is exports, as the company takes over grain and seeds from producers and then ships and exports them mainly through Constanta harbor.
The company does not own an export facility in the harbor, but has a tight business relationship with United Shipping Agency, which holds an 183,000-ton export terminal, one of the biggest in Constanta.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)